M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David Takes Saul’s Spear
26 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “(A)Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before [a]Jeshimon?” 2 So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him (B)three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 And Saul camped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before [b]Jeshimon, (C)beside the road. Now David was staying in the wilderness, and (D)he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. 4 So David sent out spies and knew that Saul was certainly coming. 5 David then arose and came to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, as well as (E)Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him.
6 Then David answered and said to Ahimelech (F)the Hittite and to (G)Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, saying, “Who (H)will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has surrendered your enemy into your hand; so now, please let me strike him with the spear [c]to the ground with one stroke, and I will not [d]strike him the second time.” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for (I)who can send forth his hand against the anointed of Yahweh and be without guilt?” 10 David also said, “As Yahweh lives, (J)surely Yahweh will smite him, or (K)his day will come that he dies, or (L)he will go down into battle and be swept away. 11 (M)Yahweh forbid that I should send forth my hand against the anointed of Yahweh; but now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because (N)a [e]sound sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them.
13 Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance with a large area between them. 14 And David called to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered and said, “Who are you who calls to the king?” 15 So David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy the king your lord. 16 This thing that you have done is not good. As Yahweh lives, all of you [f](O)must surely die because you did not keep watch over your lord, the anointed of Yahweh. So now, see where the king’s spear is and the jug of water that was at his head.”
17 Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “(P)Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord the king.” 18 He also said, “(Q)Why then is my lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand? 19 So now, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If (R)Yahweh has incited you up against me, (S)let Him [g]accept an offering; but (T)if it is [h]men, cursed are they before Yahweh, for (U)they have driven me out today so that I would have no attachment with the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 So now, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of Yahweh; for the king of Israel has come out to search for (V)a single flea, just as one pursues a partridge in the mountains.”
21 Then Saul said, “(W)I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a serious error.” 22 And David replied, “Behold the spear of the king! Now let one of the young men come over and take it. 23 (X)Now Yahweh will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for Yahweh gave you into my hand today, but (Y)I was not willing to send forth my hand against the anointed of Yahweh. 24 Now behold, as your life was (Z)highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of Yahweh, and may He (AA)deliver me from all distress.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “(AB)Blessed are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much and surely prevail.” So (AC)David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.
Concerning Marriage and Singleness
7 Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is (A)good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 But because of sexual immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. 3 The husband must [a]fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 (B)Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and [b]come together again so that (C)Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 But this I say as a concession, (D)not as a command. 7 [c]Yet I wish that all men were (E)even as I myself am. However, (F)each man has his own gift from God, one this way, and another that.
8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is (G)good for them if they remain (H)even as I. 9 But if they do not have self-control, (I)let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10 But to the married I give instructions, (J)not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not [d]leave her husband 11 (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not [e]divorce his wife.
12 But to the rest (K)I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not [f]divorce her. 13 And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not divorce her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through [g]her believing husband. For otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are (L)holy. 15 Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave. The brother or the sister is not enslaved in such cases, but God has called [h]us [i](M)to peace. 16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will (N)save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?
17 Only, (O)as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And (P)so I direct in (Q)all the churches. 18 Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? (R)He is not to be circumcised. 19 (S)Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is (T)the keeping of the commandments of God. 20 (U)Each man must remain in that [j]condition in which he was called.
21 Were you called while a slave? [k]Do not worry about it. But if you are able also to become free, rather [l]do that. 22 For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is (V)the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who was called while free, is (W)Christ’s slave. 23 (X)You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brothers, (Y)each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.
25 Now concerning virgins I have (Z)no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who [m](AA)by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. 26 I think then that this is good because of the [n]present (AB)distress, that (AC)it is good for a man [o]to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have [p]trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. 29 But this I say, brothers, (AD)the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; 30 and those who cry, as though they did not cry; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; 31 and those who use the world, as though they did not (AE)make full use of it. For (AF)the form of this world is passing away.
32 But I want you to be free from concern. One who is (AG)unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. 33 But one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, 34 and his interests have been divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. 35 Now this I say for your own benefit, not to put a restraint upon you, but [q]to promote propriety and undistracted devotion to the Lord.
36 But if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin daughter, if she is past her youth, and if it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin; let [r]her marry. 37 But he who stands firm in his heart, [s]being under no compulsion, but has authority [t]over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin daughter, he will do well. 38 So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.
39 (AH)A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband has [u]fallen asleep, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only (AI)in the Lord. 40 But (AJ)in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
The Siege of Jerusalem
5 “Now as for you, son of man, take a (A)sharp sword; take and [a]use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take (B)scales for weighing and divide [b]the hair. 2 One-third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city when the (C)days of the siege are fulfilled. Then you shall take one-third and strike it with the sword all around [c]the city, and one-third you shall scatter to the wind; and I will (D)unsheathe a sword behind them. 3 You shall also take a few in number from [d]them and bind them in the edges of your robes. 4 Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will [e]spread to all the house of Israel.
5 “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘This is (E)Jerusalem; I have set her at the (F)center of the nations, with lands all around her. 6 But she has rebelled against My judgments more wickedly than the nations and against My statutes (G)more than the lands which are all around her; for they have (H)rejected My judgments and have not walked [f]in My statutes.’ 7 Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because you have (I)more turmoil than the nations which are all around you and have not walked in My statutes, nor done My judgments, nor done the judgments of the nations which are all around you,’ 8 therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I, even I, am (J)against you, and I will (K)execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. 9 And I will do among you what I have (L)not done and the like of which I will never do again because of all your abominations. 10 Therefore, (M)fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and (N)scatter all your remnant to every wind. 11 So as I live,’ declares Lord Yahweh, ‘surely, because you have (O)defiled My sanctuary with all your (P)detestable idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also withdraw, and My eye will have no pity, and I will not spare. 12 One-third of you will die by the (Q)plague or be consumed by the famine among you, one-third will fall by the sword around you, and one-third I will (R)scatter to every wind, and I will (S)unsheathe a sword behind them.
13 ‘Thus My anger will be spent, and I will cause My wrath against them to be at rest, and I will be [g](T)appeased; then they will know that I, Yahweh, have (U)spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you a [h]ruin and a (V)reproach among the nations which are all around you, in the sight of all who pass by. 15 So [i]it will be a reproach, a reviling, a (W)chastisement, and a desecration to the nations who are all around you when I (X)execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and wrathful reproofs. I, Yahweh, have spoken. 16 When I send against them the [j]deadly arrows of famine which [k]were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break the staff of bread. 17 Moreover, (Y)I will send on you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; (Z)plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, Yahweh, have spoken.’”
BOOK 2
My Soul Thirsts for God
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So my soul [c](A)pants for You, O God.
2 My soul (B)thirsts for God, for the (C)living God;
When shall I come and [d](D)appear before God?
3 My (E)tears have been my food day and night,
While they (F)say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember and I (G)pour out my soul within me.
For I (H)used to go along with the throng and [e]lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the sound of a (I)shout of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
5 (J)Why are you [f](K)in despair, O my soul?
And why are you (L)disturbed within me?
(M)Wait for God, for I shall still praise Him,
[g]For the [h](N)salvation of His presence.
6 O my God, my soul is [i]in despair within me;
Therefore I (O)remember You from (P)the land of the Jordan
And the [j]peaks of (Q)Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your (R)breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
8 By day, Yahweh will (S)command His lovingkindness;
And (T)by night, His song will be with me,
A prayer to (U)the God of my life.
9 I say to God (V)my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go (W)mourning [k]because of the (X)oppression of the enemy?”
10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries reproach me,
While they (Y)say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 (Z)Why are you [l]in despair, O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Wait for God, for I shall still praise Him,
The salvation of my presence and my God.
Send Out Your Light and Your Truth
43 (AA)Give justice to me, O God, and (AB)plead my case against an unholy nation;
[m]Oh protect me from (AC)the deceitful and unrighteous man!
2 For You are the (AD)God of my strength; why have You (AE)rejected me?
Why do I go (AF)mourning [n]because of the oppression of the enemy?
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